On Friday 9 May DIFFER, TU/e EIRES and BigScienceNL organised the second edition of the Dutch Fusion Day. We were happy to welcome nearly 200 participants in Eindhoven. A myriad of speakers covered business, research and governmental perspectives on the next and now of nuclear fusion. Let's look back on a successful, energizing second edition. A few highlights:
As The Netherlands, we are well positioned to play an important role in a European ecosystem. We have excellent collaborations between research and industry, and our combined expertise in subjects like system and control engineering, precision engineering, cryogenics and superconducting magnets.
We should stop talking, and start acting: let's turn our excellent knowledge and expertise into a national fusion strategy.
There is a need to come together as a fusion community to define concrete next steps. As a next step, a matchmaking event will be organised at DIFFER to discuss the outlines of a KIC programme.
In the media
- How fusion reaches new frontiers: Dutch Fusion Day 2025 (TU/e EIRES and DIFFER)
- Investeerders en wetenschappers: ‘Stop met polderen, versnel kernfusieontwikkeling nu’ (Eindhovens Dagblad)
Speakers and presentations
Alex Creely - Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS)
Alex Creely is the Chief Engineer of the ARC conceptual design project at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, leading technical aspects of the design of the world’s first fusion power plant. Creely also leads the Tokamak Operations groups within the SPARC project, preparing the tools and team for operation of SPARC and optimizing the path to net energy production. Creely earned a Bachelor of Science and Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University and a PhD in Applied Plasma Physics from MIT before joining CFS.
Presentation: Commonwealth Fusion Systems and the Path to Commercial Fusion Energy
Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a commercial fusion company based in the US, is currently building the SPARC tokamak demonstration plant, aiming for net fusion energy in 2027, and is in the early stages of designing the 400 MWe ARC fusion power plant, aiming for operation in the early 2030s.
Klaas de Boer - General Fusion
Klaas de Boer is the independent chairman of General Fusion. As a physicist by training, he was one of the first venture capitalists to invest in a private fusion company in 2009, when he was Managing Partner of Entrepreneurs Fund. Over the 15 years since that first investment, initially as investor director and since 2020 as independent chair he has seen the private fusion industry emerge and evolve. After nearly 25 years in venture capital and entrepreneurship, Klaas currently holds a portfolio of board and advisory roles as well as several angel investments. He started his career with McKinsey & Company, and holds an MBA from INSEAD and a MSc in Applied Physics from Delft.
Presentation: Investing in Commercialising Fusion
The talk covered three main topics: 1. Personal perspective on investing in commercialising fusion starting from the early days of General Fusion. 2. General Fusion’s unique approach to commercialising fusion. 3. Ways to think about investing in fusion today. download presentation
Twan van Erp - The European Commission
Twan works as Directors’ assistant in the European Commission, in the department for Research and Innovation, in the office of the director for Clean Planet. His files include the Euratom Research and Training Programme, which supports research and innovation on fission and fusion. He has an active role in delivering the first EU Fusion Strategy.
Presentation: Towards an EU Fusion Strategy
The European Commission is preparing an EU Fusion Strategy. This presentation focused on all the current initiatives at EU level to support the development of fusion energy in the EU, that are leading to the first EU Fusion Strategy. download presentation
Share your experience
Thank you again for your interest in the Dutch Fusion Day! We are curious to know what you think of this event. Please give us your feedback via this form, so that we can learn from this day and make improvements for upcoming gatherings.
Let's continue the journey
We hope to see you again next year, please subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed on the next Dutch Fusion Day in 2026.
Are you interested in participating in the matchmaking event on 23 June 2025 to explore the position of Dutch academia and industry in the supply chain of future fusion reactors and beyond? For more information and registration visit the matchmaking event webpage.
